Bread and Circuses
by LadyForge
Summary: An essay on the political ploy 'Panem et Circenses' and the strong similarities between The Hunger Games and Rome. Purely academic.


I feel it is only fair to warn you: THIS IS NOT A STORY. This is an ESSAY about how much The Hunger Games resembles Ancient Rome. I found it fascinating when I wrote it for Latin homework, but I understand that not everyone is as big a nerd as I am. I wouldn't even put this up if I didn't need the word count to beta. If anyone needs a beta, I am volunteering. I don't care what for as long as it's not written in text speak. If you still want to read about the academics of Hunger Games and Ancient Rome, here you go:

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><p>~<span>Panem et Circenses<span>~

The society of Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games and its subsequent sequels, when closely examined, resemble that of Ancient Rome. Both had beautiful cities, advanced societies, and military power. Yet both fell, because their people succumbed to the political policy of '_Panem et Circenses_' which translates to English as 'Bread and Circuses'.

The phrase '_Panem et Circenses_' was written by Juvenal, a Roman satirist, referring to the government of the time. He said that the people of Rome, once a strong, proud people, were giving up their power in government and military. Instead they only wanted the luxuries and entertainment given to them by politicians. He referred to these two placations as 'bread and circuses'. Though the districts were also scared into submission, the people of Panem in general were similarly placated.

The 'Bread', in its most literal translation, can refer to the feasts given by the politicians for the people of the Capital. These were similar to the feasts of Rome's elite in that the guests would stuff themselves silly with delicacies. When they were too full to eat more, the guests would visit rooms adjacent to the dining hall and cause themselves to throw up. While they binged on rich food, the people in the surrounding districts, or captive countries, starved.

'Circuses', here applied, quite obviously refer to the Games. The Games of Panem resemble two things from Rome: the gladiators and the myth about the Minotaur. The gladiators were often prisoners of war who were given the chance to fight for their lives. If they won, they were set free. If they lost, they died. This is much like the tributes in the Hunger Games because they are demanded from Districts that the Capital defeated in war. The tributes also had to defeat/kill all other contestants and live free, or die in the arena.

The myth of the Minotaur resembles the Games in that a large tribute of children, half boys and half girls, was demanded of the conquered area(s). The children would then put in a situation where most, if not all, of them would die. This sent a message to the conquered that, as Suzanne Collins herself phrased it "Mess with us and we'll do something worse than kill you. We'll kill your children." In neither case is this message fully effective. Eventually the ones paying tribute rose up and rebelled.

The Minotaur brings to mind the mutant or 'mutt' animals created by the Capital. The Minotaur was a mutant creature, half man and half bull. It was created because of a mistake made by a government leader and then used to punish an area beaten in war. Trackerjackers and Jabberjays were two mutants created by the Capitol, though in contrast they were made intentionally. The Jabberjays were originally used to spy on the Districts in the first rebellion. They became an embarrassment when rebels turned them against the Capitol and began using the Jabberjays to send false information. Trackerjackers were used to kill and torture rebels from the Districts, and left where they were after the war to remind the Districts of their submission.

The Avoxes bear resemblance to the unwilling competitors in the Roman games, thought they are forced to serve rather than fight. The word 'Avox' is likely a combination of two Latin words: 'A' meaning no and 'Vox' meaning voice or power. Quite literally, the slaves in Panem who had had their tongues cut out were called 'no voice'. During one particularly horrible period of the Roman games, gladiators were being killed off too fast to keep the games going, so innocent people were sent into the arena with their tongues removed so they couldn't yell for help or say what had happened to them. Avoxes, though different in service, were also made mute so they could not say why they were enemies of the Capitol.

The Capitol had many enemies, even though most of the population didn't know it. So complacent were they with their 'Bread and Circuses' that some of the population either didn't know or didn't care that a rebellion was going on until the rebels started breaking onto the airwaves with Mockingjay propaganda. Up until that point in the war, many of them carried on with their partying and extravagance, a large scale version of Nero supposedly fiddling while Rome burned.

The last likeness of Panem to Rome is not a comparison of customs or events, but rather a comparison of one person to another. Katniss bears startling resemblance to the historic Roman rebel Spartacus. Spartacus was put in Gladiator school for a transgression that has disappeared into time. He escaped by inciting a rebellion and fighting his way out of the school using, of all things, kitchen utensils. This unusual escape can either be compared to when Katniss shoots an arrow through one of the snacks brought for the Gamemakers during her evaluation session in The Hunger Games or when she breaks the force field keeping the tributes in the arena in Catching Fire, also with an arrow. It would more likely be the former, because both rebellions were at a training place for the arena. Both of her rebellions weren't as intentional as his were, but rather caused by momentary anger or panicked confusion, respectively. Katniss also didn't intend to lead the rebellion, but was coerced. Their main similarity, however, is in the rebellions they led.

Their rebellions were against a corrupt government that abused their power over the lower classes. The revolutionaries used the home-turf advantage, stole weapons and materials from their opponents, and used a wide range of tactics. Their oppressors both viewed the rebellions as minor matters instead of as a war until it was too late, by which time the other oppressed citizens/slaves were joining their ranks. The two main differences are that in Mockingjay it is the enemy defending a mountain and being starved out rather than the rebels, and in the Hunger Games series Katniss's forces are triumphant while Spartacus was defeated, fate unknown.

Katniss also bears a slight resemblance to Brutus in Julius Caesar when she kills the President-to-be: Coin. Brutus betrayed Caesar not out of greed or ambition but because Brutus was convinced that Caesar would not be a good political leader for Rome. After witnessing Coin's tactics, which are supported by the theory that the end justifies the means, Katniss decides that the new Panem would be better off with a different leader.

After reviewing the history of Rome, both factual and mythological, it can be understood that Panem and its Games not so much the horror of an unlikely future, but a high-tech, futuristic version of the past. Both societies were governed with fear and pacification, with a selective elite ruling over a disadvantaged majority, and corrupt at their very cores. Both of them felled by the politicians who led their people to temptation and undermined their society by using a simple yet devastating political ploy called "_Panem et Circenses_".


End file.
